Conducting South Carolina Cello Festival
“At last we have a book that does some justice to Gregor Piatigorsky.”
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Strad Magazine, Dec 2010
“…an amazing book…would be number one on New York Times Reading List about cellists.”
—Huffington Post, Dec 2010
“Recommended” —Choice
“Best Historical Research in Classical Music” —ARSC (Association for Recorded Sound Collections)
“In Terry King, Piatigorsky’s protégé and friend, Piatigorsky finds the perfect champion. The book is indispensable reading for cellists, string players, and all music lovers.” —Strings, May 2011
“Gregor Piatigorsky was one of the most fascinating and charismatic people I have ever encountered. His story, by turns tragic and exhilarating, is unique. It is wonderful that Terry King has now chronicled the personal and musical life of this amazing personality.” —Steven Isserlis, cellist
“Bravo, bravo…I am overwhelmed…the depth of research, the sources, both text and pictorial…it is the best of this genre that I have seen. I am continually both moved and fascinated…”—Paul Katz, cellist
"This is what we have long been waiting for: a book that finally puts the Great Piatigorsky in historical context. Terry King's amazing research and scholarship enlivens the subject and enlightens his readers; a superb achievement deserving of the deepest bows. —Nathaniel Rosen, cellist
“What a great service you have done to the cello world! It is fascinating to read and learn so much of his pre-America life, too! It is great!” —Lynn Harrell, cellist
“There is hardly a cellist alive that has not read Gregor Piatigorsky’s original autobiography Cellist published in 1965. Cellist ended in mid-career and now Terry King completes the story of an incredible and controversial artist in a way that only someone who was close to him could do, yet has the ability to see him critically.”—ARSC Journal, Spring 2011
“I was amazed. It was like reading about my father for the first time.”—Dr. Joram Piatigorsky
“Terry King as given all of us a great gift—a very personal and loving look into the life of one of the greatest artists and most colorful personalities in music history.”
—William Preucil, Concertmaster, Cleveland Orchestra
“I am so happy that Terry King has written this informative and often touching
account of my husband's life as a cellist and great artist. He has beautifully and painstakingly given us all a treasured gift with this work. I admire the effort he has made to write this book and am deeply grateful for the contribution it makes to our family and music lovers throughout the world.”—Jacqueline Piatigorsky
“…thoroughly researched biography…tremendous work of scholarship is rich in history…”
—Polish Music Newsletter, April 2011
BBC3 Disc of the Year
2010 Gramophone Award
"Quarterly Best" list Association of German Record Critics
Diapason d’Or prize in France
Highest rating (5 star) Musica Nova, Paolo Bertoli
“This was the most important instrumental box set to come our way, without question.” Musicweb International Recordings of the Year
“Rare Recordings Showcase Gregor Piatigorsky’s Genius. New box set offers the thrill of hearing one of the greatest cellists of all time.” “All capture humbling greatness—the playing throughout is transcendent.” Strings October 2010
Overall, it would be very difficult to overstate the value of this set. Gregor Piatigorsky was unquestionably one of the great string soloists of the 20th century, and his work was documented far less than his contemporaries. Much of the material here has either never been issued or has long been out of print. This is not only for cellists and cello fanatics. Anyone who places a value on music-making with a real face to it will find this an essential set. What you have here is a cellist who plays with enormous technical facility, and who plays everything as if it might be the final performance of his life. This is music-making that is vital and alive at every turn—highly personal but never eccentric.
Henry Fogel, Fanfare Magazine, Jan/Feb 2011
I produced this set as a topping off of the two single CDs on the Music & Arts label I did several years ago. I wanted to share live performances as well as unpublished items. The live examples show his characteristics to best advantage; many artists are more revealing live than in the studio. His work from the 1940s for Columbia was only fractionally released, and for no good reason. As he told me, it might have had something to do with his disappointment with the entire enterprise. For instance, he claimed to not to have finished the Grieg Sonata (but he did play it through), and didn’t like the balance. He felt rushed to do the 1949 Saint-Saens, as the session was very short. But as you can hear, even with no edits, these are wonderful performances. I say performances because he simply played and left, or went on to other things. He told me his attitude toward recording—metaphorically writing an inadequate letter rather than being there—but he knew he had to do it.
I also include film DVD, one of which is new to the public, the c.1935 Andante (sic) et Rondo. The others are refurbished and a wonderful example of cello mastery and music making.
"The Cellist: The Legacy of Gregor Piatigorsky” (2018) explores the legacy of a man whose mission it was to popularize the cello.
Piatigorsky is not a man whose name comes to the lips of people when you ask them to name a famous cellist. Yo-Yo Ma, they may say. Or maybe Mischa Maisky, or Steven Isserlis.
But without Piatigorsky, there would be no Ma, or Maisky, or Isserlis.
Through interviews with his past students (Isserlis, Nathaniel Rosen, Raphael Wallfish, among others), collaborators (conductors Michael Tilson Thomas and Zubin Mehta), and Piatigorsky’s own words, “The Cellist” takes us through “Grisha’s” extraordinary life.”
This is a modestly priced 10 CD set of pirated items, many of which were lifted from the above set. At this point, I’m happy to see more availability, as my set is out of print (though you might find one on Amazon or eBay).
This includes the released material from the 40s forward. The Heifetz material has been reproduced several times, but this set represents a further improvement on the sound. This includes the “lost” Dvorak Quintet with William Primrose left out of most of the other Heifetz incarnations.
“Cello historian Terry King opens another window on classical music’s storied past with this four-CD set of rare recordings by the great virtuoso Emanuel Feuermann…This impressive box set features 18 CD premieres and includes all 1921–26 Parlophone, Telefunken, and other 78s…as well as a wonderful reading of Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody from 1932 and a fluent, impassioned last movement of Beethoven’s last Cello Sonata live from Town Hall in 1941. Through Lani Spahr’s restoration work, Feuermann’s immaculate technique and lyrical phrasing connects and communicates with surprising immediacy and impact, despite the dim nature of the sources. In addition to the commercial recordings from the mid 1920s, King adds a number of Feuermann’s live performances from his astounding series with Leon Barzin’s National Orchestral Association, including still-obscure concertos by Josef Reicha and Eugen D’Albert, and Feuermann’s live Dvorak Concerto with the Chicago Symphony in 1941. An unexpected visit to the time capsules finds the great cellist appearing on Bing Crosby’s Kraft Music Hall radio series, inimitably introduced, “When we get in the mood for some real cello playing around the hall, we look for Emanuel Feuermann.” (And later in the interview, he poses this question: “When a lady plays the cello, does she play it side saddle?”) These four CDs come with 23 pages of detailed track listings and recording dates, notes, history, and photographs.”—All Things Strings, July 2012 (5 star rating)
I produced this 4CD set as the completion of all his recorded material. There are many new items and if you have all the other CDs, you are a Feuermann completist! This set used only primary sources and is in the best possible sound. I am a fan of his too, as I am of many in the past.
This delightful DVD was aired on PBS and The Learning Channel and is a beautiful introduction to a marvelous musician and human being. I was fortunate to spend time with him in work and play. The Mirecourt Trio commissioned both the Double Concerto and the Piano Trio. There is a little excerpt of one of the concerto performances just before he describes his iconic motto: Cherish, Conserve, Consider, Create.
I include the Don Ellis DVD as I played in his band and toured with him one year. He was a fantastic musician and broke all kinds of boundaries. My musicianship was enthusiastically challenged and deeply enriched. He died way too young. Take a look.
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“A CD box-set released on the 'Sony Classical' label - In celebration of the internationally acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax’s 70th birthday and his long-term musical partnership with revered cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Sony Classical is pleased to release. This must-have box set sees their complete recordings for Cello and Piano ,originally released on Columbia Masterworks/Sony Classical, released in a single edition for the first time. This stunning box set features exquisite performances of works by revered composers Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov.”
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